Difference between revisions of "Comparing "cai" and "jiu""
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| − | <li class="o">他 下午 四点 <em>就</em> 吃 晚饭。</li> | + | <li class="o">他 下午 四点 <em>就</em> 吃 晚饭。<span class="trans">He ate dinner at four in the afternoon.</span> </li> |
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Revision as of 05:07, 5 June 2013
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Level
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Similar to
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Used for
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Keywords
Both 才 and 就 are adverbs that have to do with expressing time, and they are both placed in front of the verb. However, they both have a different tone and feel, and they express different lengths of time.
Contents
才
才 expresses that the speaker thinks that the the time that passed since the action takes place was a long time. Sometimes it expresses anxiety, impatience, anger etc.
Structure
才 + Verb
Examples
- 我 等 了 两 个 小时 才 买 到 票。 I waited two hours before I was bought the ticket.
- 他 迟到 了 半 个 小时 才 来。He came a half an hour late.
就
就 expresses that the speaker thinks that the time since the action happened is short, and it has a surprise, unexpectedness, or even sometimes regret.
Structure
就 + Verb
Examples
- 你们 这么 早 就 下班 了？Why are you guys leaving work so early?
- 他 两 年 以前 就 去世 了。He only died two years ago.
就 is used to express earliness
就 indicates that something has occurred earlier than expected
Structure
Subject + Time + 就 + Verb + Object
Examples
- 他 下午 四点 就 吃 晚饭。He ate dinner at four in the afternoon.
Example dialog
- A: 你 怎么 才 来？
- B: 我 八点 就 出门 了，路 上 堵车 我 也 没 办法。
